The Brave and the Bold

My friend and fellow hard-core practicer Eric (AKA Country Club) was unfortunate enough to be the first person to lose a bet to me on the golf course.  Over the past year, I’ve made a few wagers for lunch with people out on the courses, but never seemed to be able to actually win one.  Almost everyone I play with is a great player and easily a single digit handicap, so I never felt too bad about losing these games, but being a competitive person, it always gets to me no matter the circumstance.

Good things come to those who wait (and practice nonstop) and yesterday Eric and I played 36 holes on the Mason course out at CECC.  It’s a 9-hole course so we played two balls and made the round twice.  Being about a 3-4 handicap, Eric kindly gave me four strokes on the day, or 2 strokes per 18.   I took them even though it’s a short course and I felt like we should be about even.  He had a couple rough holes and my pitches were falling on line so after the first 18 I was 3 under and he 3 over.  There was a mighty comeback on his end, but when the fat lady sung I was at 1 under par and he came back to shoot even for the day.

I don’t want to celebrate taking a lunch from a friend, but it was meaningful to me in that I got the lead and kept it through a lot of golf.  It is very easy for someone who has been playing for just one year (or for that matter 30 years) to start playing “safe” once they have an advantage and that type of play in golf can actually lead to some devastating holes.  Success favors the brave and the bold.  Playing safe later in a round changes your game and can tighten you up, throwing off your swing.  I think that it is important to continue playing boldly no matter what the scoreboard might say and that’s what I have been trying to learn through these games..

Here’s Eric walking up on the 9th green, it was a perfect day for golf: